Scenic tiles for miniature railroad



March 20, 1962 e F. SCHUMACHER 3,025,626

SCENIC TILES FOR MINIATURE RAILROAD Filed Oct. 7, 1958 S Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR Sung $15 BY I ATTO RN EY March 1962 G. F. SCHUMACHER 3,025,626

SCENIC TILES FOR MINIATURE RAILROAD Filed OCt. 7, 1958 3 SheetsSheet 2ATTO RN EV March 20, 1962 Filed Oct. 7, 1958 G. F. SCHUMACHER SCENICTILES FOR MINIATURE RAILROAD 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR A'TTO RNEY UnitedStates Patent Cfilice 3,Z5,ii26 Patented Mar. 20, 1962 3,925,626 SCENICT FUR MINIATURE RAILRUAD Guy F. Schumacher, Hamden, COIIIL, assignor toiht A. C. Gilbert Company, New Haven, Conm, a corporation of MarylandFiled Get. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 7653M II tilaiins. (Cl. il-23) Thisinvention relates to readily assembled prefabricated units of modelscenery or scenic foundations specially adapted to serve as sectionalbedwork for sectional toy or model railway track and in whichrights-of-way or roadbeds for the track can be varied by a selection ofdifferent relationships in which the units can be placed together.

An object of the improvement is to provide children or workers in thehobby of toy or model railroading with a set of inexpensive sceniccomponents which may comprise discrete hollow tiles of sheet materialthat fit edge-to-edge or border-to-border without requiring permanentattachment to one another.

Another object is to provide such tiles with contours that includeupstanding mounds or protuberances representative of hills and mountainsas well as depressions representative of lakes, ponds and otherwaterways, to gether with courses of relatively level substantiallyuniplanar bed area therebetween adapted to afford predeterminedrights-of-way or roadbeds for toy railroad track, some of whichrights-of-way skirt said mountains while others pass therebetween.

Another object is to arrange the mountains in such relative positionsthat the rights-of-way shall extend to an edge or corner of the tile andopen outward from the tile thereat in such positions along the mat edgethat more than one rigl1t-of-way on a single tile is capable ofregistering in lengthwise alignment with a choice of the rightsof-way onan adjoining tile, whereby to afford a throughway across adjoining tilesfor selective courses of railroad pike.

Another object is to provide each tile with surface markings to indicatepossible courses of toy railroad track and especially at the edges orborders of the tile where the intended rights-of-way open outward fromthe tile for registering interchangeably with a choice of therights-ofway on adjoining tiles whose points of opening at the edges ofthe tile are correspondingly indicated for guidance in matching thetiles to accommodate a planned pike of toy railroad.

Another object is to make the tiles in formed-sheet style. Oneinexpensive lightweight material which lends itself to this purpose ispapier-mach embossed or contoured, either by die pressure or a molding,and/ or build up pulp depositing, process into a relatively unilevel bedarea interrupted by hollow elevations and hollow depressions. The sidewalls of the elevations which upstand from the bed area together withthe side walls of the depressions which extend downward from the bedarea render the tile quite stiff and rigid as a unitary body. Suchstiffening effect can be augmented by forming irregular shallow furrowsand undulations extending in diverse directions in the generallyuniplanar bed area of the tile. Stiffness is further promoted at themargins of the tile by the turneddown edge walls.

Another object is to terminate the aforesaid depressions and thedownward turned edge walls at a uniplanar level so that the depressionswill form multiple supporting legs on which the tile will stably standwithout teetering.

Another object is to cause superimposed toy track to appear to coursethrough mountain passes by arranging at least some of the selectiverights-of-way to extend between closely neighboring elevations on thetile.

Another object is to locate some of the hollow eleva- 2 tions at theextreme edges of the tile so that they are in eifect sectioned on avertical plane, the hollows therein opening laterally outward so thatsimilarly sectioned elevations on adjoining tiles can mate to form inappearance a single closed elevation simulating a ridge-like hill ormountain.

The above and further objects and features of the improvement will beunderstood in fuller particular from the following description ofexamples of various assembled arrangements of the tiles embodying theinvention, such being shown in combination with various layouts of toyrailroad track designed to be accommodated on the tiles in accordancewith the invention. The. description has reference to the appendeddrawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a scenic tile embodying the invention andusable in various assembled relationships shown in FIGURES 4-1 1,inclusive, of the drawings. 7

FIGURE 2 is an edgewise view of the tile in FIG. 1 looking in thedirection of arrow 2.

FIGURE 3 is a view taken in section through the tile of FIGURE 1 on theplane 33, looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 4 shows an assembly of two rows of four tiles on which isremovably installed a pike of toy railroad track in simple oval shape.

FIGURE 5 shows a layout of track as. in FIGURE 4, having a circular loopof track added at each end of the oval.

FIGURE 6 shows the addition of four tiles to those in FIGURE 5 makingthree rows of four tiles accommodating a longer course of track lying inoutboard relation to the oval course in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 shows interconnected and overlapping oval pikes of trackaccommodated on an arrangement of tiles like that in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is like FIGURE 4 with a single circular loop of track added toone end of the oval.

FIGURE 9 is like FIGURE 6 wherein the assembly of tiles is reduced to asquare area formed by three rows of three tiles with a single circle oftrack at one end of the shortened oval.

FIGURE 10 shows a corner-forming layout of the tiles accommodating twoangularly related, mutually overlapping ovals of track pike with a halfcircle of track bridging one oval and a short branch of track dead-endedwithin the other oval.

FIGURE 11 shows the same layout of tiles as in FIG URE l accommodating afigure-8 course of smaller or HO gauge track wherein the radii ofcurvature of the loops of the track are smaller than the radii ofcurvature of the trackage shown in the other figures of the drawings.

FIGURES 4-11 of the drawings show assembled groups of tiles embodyingthe invention, all of which tiles are incidentally alike but assembledin variable edge-to-edge or border-to-border relationship. It is notnecessary in practicing the invention that all of the tiles be alike, orthat their assembly be patterned after any particular one of the saidfigures of the drawings.

One such tile, designated 11 as a whole, is shown in detail in FIGS. 1,2 and 3. It may comprise a plastic or fibrous material such aspapier-mache deposited upon or formed between molding patterns, or otherpreferably ightweight material that is ernbossiole and capable ofholding pre-determined preferably hollow shapes and contours imparted toit by forming in a machine press or otherwise embossing.

As an example of configurations embodying the invention the title isshown to incorporate four preferably hollow mounds or protuberancesupstanding from the generally uniplanar bed area Ill of the title anddesignated 12, 13, 14 and 15, respectively. Mounds 14 and 15 arecontoured to represent natural scenic peaks that are close enoughtogether to make the space between them suggestive of mountain passes.The mounds l2 and 13 are also preferably hollow and formed at the edgesof the tile to represent ridges of land or the crests of elongate hillswhose hollow interior opens laterally outward from the tile. In FIGS.4-11 land ridges 12 or 13 on one tile are shown to register with thehollow in a similar ridge 12 or 13 at the edge of an adjoining tile,whereby the laterally opening interiors of both ridges become closed bytheir two sloping sides which combine to form a composite elevation.

Tile 11 is seen to be provided also with hollow depressions 16 disheddownward in the generally uniplanar bed area ll) of the mat. Thesedepressions extend downward to a uniform depth from the bed area 16 sothat their lowest reaches or foot surfaces are coplanar, whereby thebottom walls of the depressed portions serve as multiple legs on whichthe tile may stably stand. The bed area is thus supported in somewhatelevated position above whatever flat support surface the tile may restupon. Firm support for the bed area it) is further aided by the turneddown side flanges Ztl, Z1, 22 and 23 of the tile, whose bottom edges arecoplanar with the foot surfaces of the depressions on which the tilestands.

Thus the down-turned side flanges of the hollow tile and the side wallsof both the upstanding hollow mountain peaks and downward disheddepressions aid in making the tile virtually rigid against unwantedflexure and distortion even though the sheet-like material of which thetile is made may be of weak soft fibrous nature as papiermache'.Material of this character imparts to the tile a vibration absorbing andnoise silencing property that is highly desirable in a supporting bedwork for toy railroads. For still greater stiifening reinforcement ofthe bed area it as well as to improve the resemblance of the top tilesurface to mildly hilly land topography, said area can be embossed toform irregular furrows or shallow undulations 17 extending in diversedirections to represent the usual irregularity and lack of flatness ofnatural terrain. Any or all of the depressions may be covered with glassor equivalent reflective substance or filled with pools of water toenhance the realism of the scenic effect in their resemblance towaterways. For this purpose the surfaces of the tiles may be given awaterproof coating.

In FIGURE 1 there is suggested by broken lines the longitudinal centerlines of certain courses or roadbeds for toy railroad track among manyother possible courses that can be accommodated along the pro-determinedrights-of-way or roadbeds afforded across the bed areas ill of adjoiningtiles by the contours thereof. Some of these rights-of-ways are straightand some are curved to accommodate respectively straight sections 27 orcurved sections 28 of trackage. In FIGS. 4-11 (illustrated in FIGS. 9and 11) the junctions between track sections at which the sections maybe taken apart are indicated by double cross lines 29. Intermediatethese junctions there may be any appropriate number of cross-ties,represented by single spaced cross-lines Illl, underlying and supportingthe rails of each section as in common toy railroad practice. Eachcross-tie is insulated from its track rail.

While the present improvements are not confined to systems of toy trackhaving straight and curved sections of specific dimensions, it isconvenient and within the principles of the invention that the tile havea length and width that is an even multiple of the combined lengths ofthe straight sections of track and that the arrangement of pseudomountains and hills on the tile provide a course or right-of-waytherebetween or therearound for curved sections of track so located asto merge tangentially with straight stretches of track within the areaof the tile. A guide to the layout of chosen pikes of toy railroad trackwill be found in US. Patent No. 2,694,864 under common ownership withthe present application.

As an illustrative example of use of the present invention each tile ofFIG. 1 may measure 24" square. The straight track sections measuredalong their center lines 27 may be 6" or 8 or 12" long. The curved trackalong its center line may have a radius of curvature 31 of 20" centeredat one corner of the tile and degrees of arcuate extent composed ofcurved sections of 15 degrees extent or multiple thereof and mergingwith the straight track of an adjoining tile at the mating edges thereofor at least within the area of the tile which carries the curved track.Other track courses 27, 2-8 are shown.

If it be desired to avoid or break up any recognizable regularity andrepetition of pattern in the appearance of the topography in the bedworkframed by the assembled tiles, any tile shown in FIGS. 4-11 that carriesstraight track can be turned about to any one of four diiferentpositions in relation to its adjoining tiles and still provide acontinuing throughway for the straight stretch of a pike of track. Thisis because the pseudo hills and mountains are not arranged symmetricallywith respect to center lines of the tile and yet the straightrights'of-way or roadbeds for track courses 27 are equidistant from theedges of the tile with which they are respectively parallel and they areparallel with each other.

The top surface of the tiles can be treated partially or all over inmany ways to enhance the appearance of an aeroview of natural landscapeas by the use of asbestos powder mixed with water and Water glasssolution in equal parts applied with a trowel or putty knife. Themountains may be painted with suitable underlying color and thenornamented with lichen moss glued in place to represent a forested area.

Many variations of the exact sizes, shapes and arrangements of tilescharacterized by the principles of this invention will be suggested bythe foregoing disclosure, all of which variations coming within a broadinterpretation of the wording of the appended claims are intended to becovered by said claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous bedwork of scenic simulating tiles comprising individualtiles each presenting a substantially uniplanar top surface comprisingboth curved and straight roadbeds adapted to support toy railroad trackand flanked by mounds upstanding from said surface to simulatemountains, each of said tiles being substantially rectangular and havingfour perpendicularly related borders adapted to mate interchangeablywith any of the said borders of like tiles, a plurality of said roadbedson each tile extending to a common border of the same tile in adirection normal to said common border and at like distances from theperpendicularly related borders of the same tile thereby to be alignableinterchangeably with different roadbeds of those on any adjacent liketile when the borders of adjacent tiles are placed selectively together.

2. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, in which at least one ofthe said mounds on each of at least two of the said tiles are located atthe said matable borders of the tiles, and each mound has a hollowinterior opening laterally outward of the tile, said mounds being ofcorresponding size and shape to meet and mutually register at their saidopenings in a manner to close said hollow interiors of the mounds whensaid tiles are placed border-to-border.

3. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, in which at least threeof the said tiles are square.

4. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, in which all of the saidtiles are of equal size and square, and the said mounds are positionedunsymmetrically with respect to all center lines of the tile, wherebyevenness of composite pattern in the relationship of said mounds on aplurality of the tiles can be avoided by a choice of which borders ofadjoining tiles are place together.

5. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, together with separablesections of miniature circularly 5 curved railroad track to be laid onthe said roadbeds and having a combined arcuate extent about theircenter of curvature aggregating an angle of ninety degrees, said arcuateextent terminating at the edge of at least one of the said tiles.

6. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, together with separablesections of miniature circularly curved railroad track to be laid on thesaid roadbeds and having a combined arcuate extent about their center ofcurvature aggregating an angle of one hundred eighty degrees, saidarcuate extent terminating at the edge of at least one of the saidtiles.

7. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, together with separablestraight sections of miniature railroad track resting on the saidstraight roadbeds of the said tiles, said straight track sections on asingle tile having a combined length equal to the edge-to-edge dimensionof said single tile, and separable sections of miniature curved railroadtrack resting on the said curved roadbeds, said curved roadbeds mergingtangentially with the said straight roadbeds within the surface area ofsaid single tile.

8. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, in which at least two ofthe said straight roadbeds on respectively adjacent tiles rest on thesaid uniplanar top surface of said adjacent tiles between the saidmounds and meet in straight alignment at a common corner meeting pointof four mutually adjacent like tiles.

9. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, together with markings onthe said surfaces of the said tiles at the said borders thereofindicating the spots at which the said roadbeds meet the said borders ofthe tiles thereby to serve as a guide in placing together adjacent tilesin a manner to bring a choice of roadbeds on said tiles into mutualalignment.

10. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 1, together withdepressions dished downward from the said uniplanar surface to asufiicient common depth therebelow to provide feet on which the saidtile can stably stand, whereby to support the said roadbeds in elevatedposition above and parallel with a flat means of support on which thetile may rest.

11. A continuous bedwork as defined in claim 10, together with downwarddirected flanges at the said borders of the said tiles extendingdownward from the said uniplanar surface to a depth substantially equalto the said depth of the said depressions, whereby to assist in thestable support of said tiles in uniplanar surface alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,279,446 Cooke Apr. 14, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 152,842 Great Britain Oct.28, 1920 OTHER REFERENCES Model Railroader, Jan. 1951, vol. 18, No. 1,pg. 17, relied on.

Model Railroader, July 1951, vol. 18, No. 7, pg. 14, relied on.

Fromme: German patent application Serial No. F 10042 (K1 42n, Gruppe 904), Mar. 29, 1956.

